Leliana for Queen
by Sarah1281
Summary: The worst part for Reidin about making Harrowmont king was that he seemed to want Reidin to succeed him. He doesn't seem to understand the word 'no' but fortunately, Reidin has a backup plan to convince him: insist on making Leliana his queen.


Leliana for Queen

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age.

Note: Until recently I was unaware that there even _were_ people who honestly thought they could get away with taking the Orzammar throne (possible) and making Leliana their Queen (not so much).

There were times when Reidin Aeducan really wished that he had just let his little brother take the throne when he'd asked. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure why he hadn't done just that. He may have spent most of his life as the second-in-line for the throne and had been a fairly popular choice for heir but the simple fact of the matter was that he really wasn't interested. He liked fighting and he liked freedom and he sincerely doubted that becoming the king would let him have much of either.

Reidin had always seen Trian as the only thing standing between him and throne and been extremely grateful for his elder brother's existence which made Trian's rumored resentment of him rather baffling. He certainly didn't seem to resent Bhelen – although in hindsight he probably should have – so it couldn't have just been the fact that they were brothers. Ah well, it hardly mattered now. Reidin had been a bit put-out when Bhelen had killed Trian but since he had quickly moved so that Reidin wouldn't be expected to succeed their father he quickly got over it. Being sealed into the Deep Roads wasn't exactly fun but he made the best of it and had actually been fully intending to crown his brother but…

Reidin had actually been chatting up Adal Helmi – he absolutely adored that woman – right before returning to the Assembly with Caridin's crown and she was a staunch Harrowmont supporter so that might have affected his judgment, just a little. Bhelen had completely overreacted, of course, and insisted that Reidin was a murderous exile who had turned his back on Orzammar when he'd murdered Trian and staged a coup. It didn't work. Really, it had all been rather annoying and Rica expected him to deal with his now father-less nephew so he was almost relieved to avoid all the chaos by citing that looming Blight. Now that the Blight was over and he was back in Orzammar because he had an obligation to little Gorim Jr., he was also – tragically – face to face with his greatest nightmare.

"It just makes sense," King Harrowmont was saying. "You've always been popular, Reidin, and you're the only surviving son of my predecessor. Add to that the fact that you ended a surface Blight, got Ferelden to send troops down here to help us reclaim some lost Thaigs, and are a Paragon and you really are the perfect candidate for my successor."

Reidin had to admit that what Harrowmont was saying made a lot of sense…on paper. He knew he had great qualifications but since he was really so vehemently opposed to the idea he doubted he'd be able to do as good of a job as someone with perhaps a lesser résumé but any sort of inclination to do the job. Unfortunately, just saying 'no' hadn't deterred anyone – not that he had really expected it to as he'd been trying to deny his interest since as long as he could remember – and so Reidin was in the middle of pondering whether it was too late to take up that post in Amaranthine after all when inspiration struck. He had a bit of a reputation as someone very interested in ladies and he'd been seeing two humans during his time on the surface. He had heard that Morrigan had since had some sort of tragic mirror-related accident but Leliana could still prove useful.

"As you know, the throne has always been the last thing that I've wanted," Reidin began slowly. "And I've gone through some pretty desperate lengths to avoid it."

The look Harrowmont shot him clearly said 'no kidding.'

"Still, I won't turn down the throne if the Assembly, in all their infinite wisdom, feels that I should be the one to assume it after your passing," Reidin continued, noticing Harrowmont perk up at that. Time to go in for the kill. "Of course, hopefully this will not be for some time as I'll need time to track down Leliana and explain the situation to her."

Harrowmont's brow furrowed. "Leliana? She was one of the humans accompanying you during the Blight, right? Why would she need to be contacted?"

"Well, I'd need a Queen, right?" Reidin asked rhetorically. "And I've got my heart set on Leliana being my consort."

Harrowmont staggered back, looking as if he were on the verge of a heart attack. Reidin honestly hoped that that wouldn't happen as, the fact that he'd always been fond of the old man aside, if Harrowmont died now then he'd never get out of becoming king. "But…Leliana is a _human_."

"I know," Reidin said, eyeing Harrowmont strangely. "It's a little difficult to miss."

"You can't put a human on the throne of Orzammar," Harrowmont said flatly.

"I'm not planning on it," Reidin said virtuously.

"But you _just_ said-" Harrowmont started to say.

"I'm planning on putting her **near** the throne," Reidin explained, remembering how Anora had described the consort position in regards to herself and Cailan.

"You can't do that either," Harrowmont informed him.

"Why not?" Reidin challenged, crossing his arms defiantly.

"To begin with, the entire point of a consort is to have an heir. Any child that this Leliana bore you would be half-human and would never be accepted as your heir," Harrowmont explained.

"I already have an heir, remember?" Reidin reminded him. "Gorim Jr."

"That may be so but if you're that unpopular then he won't be accepted as king and any children that you had with Leliana would never be accepted in Orzammar," Harrowmont pointed out. "And neither would she."

"I'd be their king as well as their Paragon so I could do whatever I want," Reidin said stubbornly. "And if I want them to accept my hypothetical future children and my lovely Leliana then they will."

Harrowmont sighed wearily, looking very much as if he were already regretting starting this conversation. Good. "A king does not have unlimited power, Reidin. The Assembly would never stand for it."

"Obviously I wouldn't mention my plans for Leliana until after the Assembly has already named me king and then I can just dissolve the Assembly and do what I want," Reidin claimed. "It's been done before, right?"

"It was done four hundred years ago by our last Paragon-King Eithnar Bemot," Harrowmont conceded. "But that was during a Blight. You can't just decide to abolish the Assembly because you want more power and even if you could pull off a reason they'd accept to get rid of them, that doesn't render them powerless. They'd still rise up against you in rebellion if you tried to force them to accept a human queen."

"Then my own personal army as well as the Legion of the Dead would rise up and crush them. I'm sure I wouldn't manage to alienate every single house out there," Reidin reasoned.

"Your army simply isn't big enough to stand against the armies of all of the other houses and you probably would manage to alienate all of them through this. In addition to the fact that the Legion of the Dead already doesn't have enough members, they refuse to get caught up in politics anyway so I doubt that they'd leave the Deep Roads," Harrowmont disagreed. "Besides, it might not even come to open revolt. There's every chance that they would just end up assassinating Leliana and possibly you."

"I'm way too awesome to be able to assassinate," Reidin boasted. "I killed the Archdemon and lived to tell the tale, don't you know?"

"Yes, that was very impressive," Harrowmont pacified him by saying. "But unless that somehow makes you immune to poisons, I don't think that that will help. And it certainly won't help Leliana."

"She used to be a bard, you know," Reidin confided. "In Orlais, they're so corrupt that they call such espionage and intrigue 'the Game.' She can take care of herself."

"She might be able to foil a few assassination attempts but if most of the nobility in Orzammar are out to kill her then she's going to die," Harrowmont said frankly. "Do you want that?"

"Of course not!" Reidin exclaimed, his eyes wide. "I love her! I want to keep her with me forever and ever!"

"Then why isn't she here now?" Harrowmont inquired.

"She said something about leading some sort of pilgrimage, I wasn't really listening," Reidin admitted. "But that won't take forever. I know you're worried about me, but don't be. Leliana and I can take care of ourselves and I'm sure that we'll be very happy as Orzammar's king and queen."

"I…you're really not going to back down about having Leliana as your consort?" Harrowmont demanded.

"Nope," Reidin said cheerfully. "Why?"

"On second thought, perhaps you were right in seeking to stay off the throne and I really should respect the wishes of our only living Paragon," Harrowmont said, sounding almost desperate.

"Oh, well…if you're sure," Reidin said, making sure to sound disappointed.

"I am," Harrowmont said hastily. "I'd best be going. I've got an heir to find, after all."

Reidin hid his smirk as he watched the king leave. Well, it might have been almost painful for him to pretend that he thought that that was a possible idea let alone a good one but it would seem that Harrowmont finally got the message.

He just really wasn't all that interested in the throne.

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